


On the Beach

by elegantideas



Category: Lolita - Fandom, Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 14:44:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10119167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elegantideas/pseuds/elegantideas
Summary: Humbert takes Lo to the beach.





	

The sun baked Lo's skin as she lay, twisted, covered in sand like a powdered donut. The misty salt breeze off the ocean tugged on the turquoise ruffles of her bathing suit. She hadn't wanted that one; it was an uncomfortable strip of fabric that squeezed her budding breasts far too tightly. She had wanted the red one with the white polka dots, the one like the movie stars wear, but Humbert had said it made her look too old and so she had gotten this one. 

She had sent Humbert across the length of the beach in search of a particular peach shaved ice from a particular stand that she had glimpsed on the way in and just had to have. Laying beside her now in the sand was a lanky, ginger haired boy frying in the sun but too flustered to move. Lo, too, was still hot-cheeked and quivery-breathed from their frantic affections. Her pink-nailed fingers waltzed over to grab hold of the boy's. They had time; Lo hadn't seen a peach shaved ice stand in all of her life.

"Timothy," she whispered. "Want to try again?"

Timothy gulped, eyes shining brightly with a mixture of eagerness and fear. "With the tongues again?" he asked breathlessly. 

Lo propped herself up on her elbows, resting her chin in her hands. "Of course, silly," she hummed. "It's no fun if you don't."

"Lo!" Humbert's voice called. 

Immediately, Lo stood up and dusted the sand off herself. "I have to go," she told Timothy hurriedly. 

Cupping his hand over his eyes, Timothy saw the man, white polo shirt and pressed linen shorts, running at them with a cone of shaved ice. "Who's that?"

"My father," she said, and the words tasted like curdled milk. 

Timothy nodded. "My dad's like that with my sister."

"I don't think he is," Lo mumbled, but then she was running to meet Humbert and wash the curdled milk taste from her tongue with fake peach syrup. As she slurped and chewed, Humbert looped his fingers in her hair. 

"Who were you with?" he asked her, voice low and straight, the way he kept it when he was jealous but didn't want it to show. This was her favorite sound, and Lo smiled, her teeth stained orange. 

"Nobody," she murmured into her straw. His hands were shaking now, and they caught a strand of her hair and pulled. "Ow!"

At once he was cooing and massaging her scalp, as though one touch could work away a world of hurt. The shaved ice tasted colder now, and biting it hurt her teeth. 

"Lo," Humbert said again, wiping sticky syrup from the corner of her lips. "Who was it?"

"No one," she said again, but now even taunting him was losing its fun as she thought of the rushing exhilaration she had felt when Timothy's lips met hers and her palm found his. The palm of his hand, perfectly Lo-sized and no bigger. Another sip of peach would make her sick. 

Humbert's big hands were rough on her jaw. Lo winced as he rubbed her skin, raw from the sun. 

"Sunburn?" he asked her. Lo plucked a piece of ice from her drink and held it to her cheek. Humbert clucked his tongue.   
"That's enough of the beach for a while." He gathered Lo in the crook of his arm and steered her toward the car park, and all the while she looked back and the red and yellow umbrella where Timothy and his family lay. 

"Who are you looking for?" Humbert asked, his fingers tingling electrically down her spine. 

"Nobody," Lo said, letting her gaze flop to her feet, flip-flopping in the sand that she'd never see again. The true response pattered in her ribcage, next to her heart. Anybody. Anybody but you.

**Author's Note:**

> I've tried my best to capture the insanity that is their "relationship", and in doing so I hope I've stayed close to the book.


End file.
